Mitchell Marsh starred with the bat and Shardul Thakur with the ball as Delhi Capitals defeated Punjab Kings by 17 runs in their Indian Premier League 2022 clash at the DY Patil Stadium on Monday.
Spinners Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav were inspirational in the middle overs even as Thakur complemented the duo with career-best IPL figures as DC inched closer to the playoffs.
This was the first time this season that Rishabh Pant and Co registered back-to-back wins.
IPL 2022 points table after PBKS vs DC
| Team | Pld | Won | Lost | Net RR | Pts | Form | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q | GT | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0.391 | 20 | WWLLW |
| 2 | RR | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0.304 | 16 | WLWLL |
| 3 | LSG | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0.262 | 16 | LLWWW |
| 4 | DC | 13 | 7 | 6 | 0.255 | 14 | WWLWL |
| 5 | RCB | 13 | 7 | 6 | -0.323 | 14 | LWWLL |
| 6 | KKR | 13 | 6 | 7 | 0.160 | 12 | WWLWL |
| 7 | PBKS | 13 | 6 | 7 | -0.043 | 12 | LWLWL |
| 8 | SRH | 12 | 5 | 7 | -0.270 | 10 | LLLLL |
| 9 | CSK | 13 | 4 | 9 | -0.206 | 8 | LLWLW |
| 10 | MI | 12 | 3 | 9 | -0.613 | 6 | WLWWL |
Asked to bat first, DC posted 159/7 courtesy Mitchell Marsh’s 48-ball 63 and then restricted Punjab to 142/9. Thakur (4/36), Axar (2/14) and Kuldeep (2/14) shared eight wickets among them while Anrich Nortje got the important wicket of Jonny Bairstow.
It is between overs 6 to 14 where Delhi won the game as Kuldeep and Axar cumulatively gave away only 28 runs in seven overs with four wickets between them.
Chasing 160 for a win, Punjab suffered a batting collapse after a good start. Jitesh Sharma (44 of 34 balls) and Rahul Chahar (25 not out off 24 balls) made a late fightback with a 41-run stand – the highest in the run chase – for the eighth wicket but that proved to be too little too late.
Earlier, Arshdeep Singh and Livingstone snared three-wickets each as Punjab restricted Delhi to a modest total.
Marsh first added 51 runs with opener Sarfaraz Khan (32) and then another 47 runs with Lalit Yadav (24), after DC lost David Warner for a duck off the first ball of the innings.
The move to open bowling with Livingstone (3/27) worked as he removed Warner, who gave a sitter to Rahul Chahar at backward point. Marsh and Sarfaraz then tried to steady the ship. Marsh hit back-to-back sixes off pacer Kagiso Rabada (1/24).
Sarfaraz’s cameo ended after he mistimed a lofted shot off Arshdeep Singh (3/37) with Chahar taking a running catch. Then Marsh and Lalit mixed caution and aggression. At 86/2 after 10 overs, the stage was set for a big score.
But Punjab pegged back DC, by grabbing three quick wickets and reducing their opposition to 112/5. First, Arshdeep used his slow bouncer to remove Lalit and then Livingstone sent back Rishabh Pant (7), who was stumped by Jitesh Sharma.
Livingstone had his third wicket, when he removed Rovman Powell (2). Wickets kept tumbling for Delhi even as Punjab bowlers conceded 43 runs in the last five overs.
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